Call It Like It Is, Genocide

Since the beginning of April, Israel has fired no less then 2000 artillery shells into Gaza. 26 people were murdered. No one said a word. We did not get on the front page of the New York Times, no one condemns their actions.

Emily Jacir

18 Apr. 2006

Since the beginning of April, Israel has fired no less then 2000 artillery shells into Gaza. 26 people were murdered. No one said a word. We did not get on the front page of the New York Times, no one condemns their actions.

Meanwhile the Israeli ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people continues and takes on a multitude of forms – so many in fact that it is hard to keep up or even begin to speak about how all these devices create a massive network of forces to wipe us off the face of the earth….the continued confiscation of lands, the destruction of houses, the constant shelling and shooting, not allowing humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, the cutting of all funding, stripping Palestinian’s of their I.D. cards – especially those with Jerusalem I.D.’s (my cousin just had his torn to shreds on the Jordan border by Israelis who told him he will no longer be needing it), closures, strip searches, constant daily humiliation, the creation of ghettos, the construction of the apartheid wall, the denial of basic human rights, the system of permits and ID cards which are akin to South Africa’s Pass laws during apartheid which the world condemned, the destruction of olive trees, the destruction of our farming economy, denying people entry into the country, the bombing of our soccer field in Gaza so that even in sports and culture they don’t want us to exist. (FIFA thankfully is going to build us a new soccer field – thank god for sports organizations – at least they are doing SOMETHING) and on and on and on on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, while the rest of the world celebrated Easter the local indigenous Christian community were denied entry into Jerusalem. Bethlehem is sealed off by a 9m Israeli Wall and the traditional Easter procession from Bethlehem to Jerusalem was impossible for the first time in 2000 years. Israel once again prevented thousands of Palestinians the right to attend Easter celebrations while portraying a false image to the world of tolerance through the use of Christian tourists gleefully wandering around Jerusalem freely – having no idea of what the local situation is or the fact that local Christians – one of the oldest Christian communities in the world will never have that freedom in their own country.

In addition, besides the ring of settlements built around the city of Bethlehem now they are planning one for inside the city – similar to the horrific settlement inside Hebron.

The American/Israeli led campaign to wipe us off the map is succeeding with not a single European government coming to our aid or defense. In addition to Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan whom all are pandering to American interests to the region and are complicit in this genocide. Palestinians fleeing Iraq(because their lives are threatened) are trapped in the no-mans land between Jordan and Iraq as Jordan will not allow them to enter the Ruweished Refugee Camp.

The US and Europe has cancelled all aid until we agree to the principles of the bloody Road Map – which is asking us to agree to our own destruction.

Friends. let us call it like it is, this is genocide.

Since AP, NPR and others are sending out incomplete reports, we thought your news organization would like to make use of the following information:
Contact: If Americans Knew: 310.441.8580 / cell 415.847.1782

In the last two and a half weeks (since the previous suicide bombing) Israeli forces have killed at least 26 Palestinians — at least 5 of them children — and injured 161 Palestinian men, women and children. A college student lost her right eye today after being shot by an Israeli sniper last week.

There have been 369 raids by Israeli forces, mostly into the West Bank. Gaza has undergone sustained shelling by Israeli forces and continued closures, resulting in increasing lack of food and medical supplies. According to UN reports, between March 30 and April 12th, Israeli forces launched 2300 artillery and tank shells and 34 missiles into Gaza.

Since the current Palestinian uprising against Israeli military occupation and confiscation of Palestinian land began in fall 2000, approximately 3,863 Palestinians and 1,084 Israelis and have been killed. Among these have been approximately 720 Palestinian children and 124 Israeli children.

Today, in separate actions, several Palestinian youths were shot, one in the neck. Israeli forces are continuing their ongoing invasions of Nablus and other West Bank cities.

Today is Palestinian Prisoners Day. 9,400 Palestinian men, women, and children are in prison. According to numerous human rights reports, Palestinian prisoners are frequently tortured. Defense for Children International reports that 4,000 Palestinian children have been arrested in the past five years, 400 of them currently in prison, including a fifteen-year-old girl, who has been in prison for over a year after being shot in the stomach by Israeli soldiers. DCI reports that the arrests are increasing.

Additional Information from Defense for Children International:

According to DCI: “The process of arrest and detention of Palestinian children is a process of systematic abuse and mistreatment which flouts international legal standards and denies the basic human rights of detainees first as children and secondly as prisoners…[children are] handcuffed and blindfolded, humiliated and threatened and often beaten and kicked from the moment they are arrested up to and often throughout their interrogation and detention. They are deprived of sleep, food and access to the bathroom until so-called confessions are coerced out of them…”

At 5.30pm on Monday 10 April 2006, at least six artillery shells fired by the Israeli military fell on the family house of Mohammed Rabe’eya Ghaban in Beit Lahiya, in the north of the Gaza Strip. Shrapnel from the shells pierced the skull of Mohammed’s eight-year old daughter Hadeel, killing her instantly. The shelling also resulted in the injury of eight other family members, including Hadeel’s brothers and sisters:

Rawan Ghaban 1 and a half years old

Rana Ghaban 3 years old

Munir Ghaban 4 years old

Amneh Ghaban 9 years old

Ghassan Ghaban 11 years old

Bassam Ghaban 15 years old

Tahrir Ghaban 17 years old

The children’s mother, 35-year old Sofia, was the eighth family member wounded in the attack.

Emily Jacir, originally from Bethlehem, grew up in Saudi Arabia, went to high school in Roma, Italy (and returned for part of college), received her B.F.A.(Texas) and M.F.A.(Tennessee) in America and then spent several years on the move living in Texas, Palestine, Colorado, France, and New York. She currently lives and works between Ramallah and New York City. For more background and links to her work see Jacir’s page at the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre. Jacir’s book, Belongings : Arbeiten/Works 1998-2003 (Buy from an independent bookstore, buy from Amazon) was published in 2004 by Folio.

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